Disease, dwindling buffalo herds, starvation, and the losing fight with the Canadian government to retain land and personal rights forced many Métis and their Chippewa or Cree families to flee to parts of Montana and North Dakota in the 1860s to 1880s. 

Candi Zion, interviewer, discusses the lives of these Métis and their families with their descendants who now live in the Browning area, Rocky Boy Reservation, Box Elder, Havre, and Wolf Point. They reveal their ancestor's hard lifestyles, hard work ethics, education, military service, and often unwillingness to discuss Indian heritage. The interviewees also share stories about their own life; education, work, experiences of prejudice and exhibit varying degrees of an understanding of their ancestry. 

Join us for Second Saturday, December 9 at 1pm in the Ozark Room for this special presentation and discussion.

Visit us for our annual Gift Shop Holiday Open House from 12-5pm on December 9. Women’s a cappella group Sound of the Falls will sing Christmas Carols at 12:30pm. Enjoy a 20% discount on clearance items, and remember that your History Museum Membership gives you a discount on your Gift Shop purchase!

Supporting The History Museum means supporting ongoing preservation of North Central Montana’s rich history and heritage. We look forward to seeing you December 9!

Don’t miss:

Walkin’ Down the Middle: The Hi-Line Métis with Candi Zion at 1pm

Tours of the Second Floor Remodel Project with Executive Director Kristi Scott at 2:30pm and 3:30pm

The History Museum will be open with additional hours this December: Tuesday-Saturday, 12-5pm until Christmas!

Veteran’s Day, November 11th, will be the grand opening of our newest exhibit: Never Ending: The Korean Conflict Remembered.  This year is the 70th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the fighting in Korea.  But how did we get to war in Korea, what happened and how did it make the two Koreas what they are today?  See this beautiful exhibit and get an in depth tour with Megan Sanford, The History Museum’s Archives Administrator.   Learn about the war from before to after and hear local stories found in our archives.

John Roberts y Pan Blanco returns for Jazz Night 2023! Enjoy Indian/East African fare by Saibeen’s Kitchen included in your ticket price.

Doors open at 6:30pm, music starts at 7pm.

Ticket sales open early for History Museum Members August 1 and open to the the public August 8.

Tickets for History Museum Members: $60 / Non-Members: $75

Purchase tickets by calling 406-452-3462 or visit The History Museum

https://kgpr.podbean.com/e/electric-city-currents-the-history-museum-s-night-at-the-ozark-annual-gala/

Join us for Second Saturday September 9 at 1pm for a free admission program! Ken Robison will discuss his new book, Order Without Law: Vigilante Tales of Old Fort Benton.

The famed Montana Vigilante story centers on Henry Plummer & X. Beidler in Bannack & Virginia City in the early 1860s. Little has been known about the vigilante activity later in the 1860s in the booming and lawless riverport town of Fort Benton. Montana historian Ken Robison will take you through the streets of the Bloodiest Block in the West and the Hoo Doo Block to unveil the hidden tale of the vigilantes and lawman X. Beidler in Fort Benton.

With the removal of the saloon as a social gathering place during Prohibition, drug stores across the nation added soda fountains and adapted to become a welcoming, wholesome places for folks to gather. Serving ice cream sundaes and soft drinks instead of beer and hard liquor, the drug store soda fountain filled the void left by the elimination of the saloon as a social gathering place. Interestingly, during the same time, the drug store also served as an alternative source of alcohol in various forms. Join Mark Johnson for a multisensory exploration of how the unique business of the drug store/soda fountain served as a substitute for the saloon during the era of Prohibition.

UPDATE: Lower Northside Residential Tour Cancelled, Two Railroad & Machinery Row Tours Offered

The Lower Northside Residential Tour has been cancelled, and The History Museum will instead run the Railroad & Machinery Row Walking Tour with Ashleigh McCann at both 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Admission to the tours is free but registration is required. Please call The History Museum at 406-452-3462. Each tour will be limited to 25 sign-ups - do not delay!

The History Museum will offer two walking tours of Great Falls for Second Saturday, July 8. These tours will give attendees a glimpse into Great Falls’ unique past.

The History Museum board member and local historian Carol Bradley will lead the walking tour of the Lower Northside residential areas and Museum Curator Ashleigh McCann will lead the walking tour of Machinery Row. Both tours will meet at Margaret Park, 20 Park Drive N., before they depart at 1:30 p.m. The tours are each scheduled to last approximately one hour.

The History Museum has set a limit of 20 people per tour due to the popularity of last year’s tours.

People interested in attending either tour are encouraged to either call or stop by The History Museum, 422 2nd St. S., before July 8 to reserve a spot. Priority will be given to museum members.

The Lower Northside residential Historic District is the original townsite of Great Falls. It is located on the north side of the central business district and features 257 buildings that contribute to the history of our city. Queen Annes, Colonial Revivals, Tudor, and Arts and Crafts are just some of the architectural designs featured in this stately district. The neighborhood harkens back to the early days when Great Falls was bursting with promise and rapidly expanding at the turn of the century.

“Machinery Row” is the nickname for 2nd Street South, named for its history of agricultural implement dealers. The parks, warehouses, and freight buildings of the Railroad Historic District reflect the community’s development into central Montana’s trade, service, and cultural center. The Railroad and Machinery Row Tour will explore the architecture and history of the buildings, which date as early as 1890 to the 1930s.

Honoring fallen soldiers with Memorial Day close to heart with May’s Second Saturday program. Bryan Wells is the man who instigated an Act of Congress to memorialize those lost in a tragic accident in 1962. B-47 Ridge: An Act of Congress details a USAF B-47 Jet bomber crash that led one man to preserve the legacy of fallen airmen of the United States Airforce with a memorial located at 8,500 feet in the Absaroka Range of Montana. Please join us for a 25 minute video of the journey produced by Art Taft and Kurt Baltrusch of Great Falls followed by Q&A.

On Second Saturday, April 8, The History Museum will host our Legacy Brunch & Awards to honor businesses, organizations, and individuals that have helped shape, promote, and preserve the rich history of Cascade County and North Central Montana. Enjoy soups and focaccia by Pizazz and bid on a variety of silent auction items to support our mission to preserve and celebrate Central Montana history.  This free admission event begins at 1pm with a suggested donation amount of $10 per person to cover the cost of lunch.

Thank you to History Museum Board Members Peter Johnson, Kristen Inbody, Andrew Finch, and Archives Administrator Megan Sanford for researching and writing about this year’s awardees. Their full articles are available to read here:

For many, Charles M. Russell's paintings epitomize life in the West. But in twentieth-century postwar Montana, an avant-garde art movement--Montana Modernism--brewed. Its pioneers--Jessie Wilber, Frances Senska, Bill Stockton, Isabelle Johnson, Robert DeWeese, and Gennie DeWeese--created a community and pedagogy where, in stark contrast to stereotypical romanticized western art and frontier history themes, modernist ideas and art flourished, expanding traditional definitions of Western art.

The first book devoted to the topic, Montana Modernists presents stunning artwork and illuminates a little-known art movement. Divided into three sections, Corriel's exploration concentrates on place, teaching/artistic lineage, and community. The isolation, beauty, and complexity of their surrounding landscape served as a backdrop and influenced the lives and art of these ranchers, teachers, and professors. Next, Corriel traces artistic lineages to describe how each arrived at their particular artistic style. Community, the third section, offers a thorough study of their teaching styles, art techniques, and social gatherings to demonstrate how a thriving community of like-minded artists, writers, dancers, musicians, and philosophers opposed the grand narrative of the West, a movement that still resonates in contemporary Montana art.

Join us at in the Ozark Room at 1pm for The History Museum’s March Second Saturday program presented by author Michele Corriel. Corriel holds a Master’s in Art History and a PhD in American Studies/American Art from Montana Sate University, Bozeman. She has been an art writer for the last 17 years and is on the National Advisory Board for the Bozeman Art Museum.

There’s just something about the Ozark Club! At a time in the 1940s and 50s when Jim Crow discrimination held an iron grip on Great Falls and throughout Montana, Leo Lamar and his unique Ozark Club broke racial barriers. Leo saw an opening in World War II Great Falls, and the door to the Ozark opened to interracial patrons. “Everyone was Welcome” at the Ozark Club. Whites and blacks, young and old, rich and poor, climbed the narrow, dark stairs to the upper floor of the Ozark. LaMar’s strategy for success rested on an exceptional entertainment package anchored by a remarkable house band, the Ozark Boys.

The Ozark Club story had faded over the fifty years before Phil Aaberg, Chris Morris, Ken Robison and the Cascade County Historical Society brought a series of exciting Nights at the Ozark to The History Museum. From 2007 to 2009, a series of seven exciting Nights at the Ozark with prominent national Black Jazz Bands lit up Montana's cold nights. The crowd brought their vibrant memories with them—and the O’Club sprang back to life. The Museum continues to celebrate this unique form of American music with an annual Jazz Night fundraiser in September and a series of free jazz clinics for local music students.

Join us Second Saturday, February 11, 1 pm at The History Museum to listen to some of the original jazz and fascinating stories from the O-Club. Please bring and share your memories of the original Ozark or the Nights at the Ozark Club and help bring the Ozark Club back to life!

The Poletto Collection has been a part of Great Falls travel since 1977, when it was first put on display at the Great Falls International Airport. Bary Poletto would start with a relative handful of models on display, but the Collection has grown to almost 900 aircraft, representing 491 airlines from 128 nations, with 116 different types from 47 different manufacturers. It is considered the largest collection of its kind in the world, and one of the largest collections of models anywhere. The Collection has had its ups and downs, victories and defeats, but it has been greeting visitors to Great Falls for almost 50 years. Join us in the Ozark Club at 1pm to hear Professor Benjamin Donnelly, the current caretaker of the collection, talk about this amazing display.

Benjamin Donnelly is the history professor at the University of Providence Great Falls. Born in Georgia, he ended up here thanks to his father being in the US Air Force, who assigned the latter to Malmstrom AFB as his first duty station. Since then, Ben has traveled (involuntarily) around the world, from Montana to Germany to Colorado and back. His father Dane built most of the model aircraft at the Malmstrom AFB Museum, while his stepfather Bary Poletto built the Poletto Collection at the Great Falls International Airport. Add that to being raised in the USAF, and Ben had little choice but to grow up loving things with wings. Though he spends most of his time teaching history at the University of Providence and MSU-Great Falls College, he spends his off time getting pictures of aircraft, studying aircraft, and writing about aircraft. And yet he's afraid of flying.

Historian Mark Johnson will present Montana's Historic Chinese Communities at 1pm in the Ozark Club. Johnson is the author of the new book The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, and in this presentation he will discuss the underrepresented history of Chinese communities in Montana. Johnson’s research comes from several large collections of primary documents left by Chinese pioneers translated into English for the first time. These collections, spanning the 1880s through the 1950s, provide insight into the pressures the Chinese community faced — from family members back in China and from non-Chinese Montanans — as economic and cultural disturbances complicated acceptance of Chinese residents in the state. Through their own voices Johnson reveals the agency of Chinese Montanans in the history of the American West and China.

Mark Johnson is a professor with the University of Notre Dame partnering with teachers who work in Catholic schools across the nation. His research interests focus on the history of Chinese communities in Montana, detailed in his book The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana (2022). Born and raised in Great Falls, he now lives in Helena. 

Especially for kids: After the presentation, craft your own paper lantern! Paper lanterns have been used in China for almost 2,000 years. Today lanterns are used to decorate festivals and important events. This activity is free and open to all ages.

The Gift Shop Holiday Open House starts 12pm-5pm. Enjoy a wide variety of Montana Made gifts and Montana books! Music in the Ozark Club, Christmas Songs with choral group Sound of the Falls starts at 3pm.

Join us in the Ozark Club at The History Museum at 1pm on November 12 for a presentation and book signing by author Jennifer Hill. Birthing the West documents the history of childbirth in Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming from the 1860 through the 1930s. It pulls from a number of rich sources, including Lizzie Maclean's diary and profiles the midwifery work of women in the Great Falls and Cascade County area. The book makes the claim that mothers and midwives provided an informal network of reproductive caregiving in a time when health care was hard to come by. In order to create settler communities, immigrants to the area had to feel "at home," and childbirth was an important part of that process. Birthing the West expands our notion of the American West beyond cattle drives, fur trading, and mining, and allows readers to see the complexity of Euro-American settlement... and the importance of women, children, and even state institutions like health departments in creating the Montana we know today.

About the author: 
With a passion for making the everyday realities of past peoples come alive, Jennifer Hill holds a PhD in American Studies. Her research and writing focus on childbirth, contraception, abortion, venereal disease, and healthcare in the American West – an area with a compelling reproductive history. Based on the belief that history is a powerful tool for understanding current controversies, Hill focuses on interpreting our shared human past in ways that inform contemporary reproductive issues.

Currently an Associate Teaching Professor at MSU, Jennifer works as an interdisciplinary scholar in the field of American Studies. When she is not researching, writing, or teaching, she can be found trail running, gardening, kayaking, or eating.

Join us in the Ozark Club 1pm on September 10 for the opening of a our new exhibit: Welcome to Cascade County. Archives administrator Megan Sanford will present Cascade County’s unique and diverse history and highlight three communities. Cascade County has a little bit of all the things that represent Montana as a whole. Whether you’re just traveling through the state or a lifelong resident, you won’t want to miss this informative and interesting talk.

Historian for the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base Troy A. Hallsell will present his research on the urban woodlands in our community at The History Museum on the Second Saturday in August.  Hallsell examines the roles parks and trees played in the early development of Great Falls, Montana from 1883-1916. From the beginning founder Paris Gibson understood that in order to build a booming industrial center on the Great Plains his new town required an abundance of parks, trees, and green spaces. By leveraging the reform-minded ideas of the Progressive Era, he built a town that anticipated and sought to address many of the ills that plagued cities during this period. The park and tree development during Great Falls' early years illustrates how Progressive Era beliefs and practices shaped today's Great Falls and demonstrates how aspects of the era's reform policies remain influential for modern-day residents.

Troy Hallsell, PhD, is a historian of cities and the American West. He is also member of the Cascade County Historical Society's Board of Directors.  This Wealth of Woodland in the Desert: Parks & Trees in Great Falls, Montana’s Early Development first appeared as an article in the Montana Magazine of Western History published by the Montana Historical Society last fall.  Hallsell hosts a podcast for New Books in the America West, a channel on the New Books Network. His book titled The Overton Park Freeway Revolt: Place, Politics, and Preservation in Memphis, TN, 1955-2017 is under review by the University of Tennessee Press.

Join us in the Ozark Club at The History Museum at 1pm on August 13 to learn more about this fascinating topic.  While you are here explore our exhibitions with free admittance to the museum and browse our giftshop featuring a variety of history books and Montana made gear.

Fort Shaw began as a military fort to protect the Mullan Road and is deeply rooted in Cascade County history. Today, Fort Shaw is a small, primarily agricultural community not far from the Sun River and located on MT Highway 200. Join us in Fort Shaw at 2pm as we explore the restored military fort, monument to the world famous Fort Shaw Indian Girls’ Basketball Team, and the nearby cemetery or catch one of the “Open House Tours” offered by the Sunriver Valley Historical Society every Thursday this summer from 1:00-6:00 P.M. July 7 to August 18.

Dave Wilson’s life and career are celebrated in this pop up exhibition at The History Museum. A veteran Montana radio broadcaster for over half a century, Wilson created the radio program “Grass Roots Gold,” which is still in syndication today. Join us to learn more about radio in Central Montana and the legacy of Dave Wilson that lives on today.

The Lower North Side harkens back to the early days in Great Falls when the Electric City was expanding rapidly and bursting with promise. Its early houses were modest wooden abodes and a building boom from 1890 to 1893 gave way to the beautiful homes that made the Lower North Side the city’s premier neighborhood. We will meet at Vinegar Jones Cabin in Gibson Park at 2pm for an afternoon stroll with tour guide Carol Bradley.

The Lower Northside residential Historic District is the Original Townsite of Great Falls. It is located on the north side of the central business district and features 257 buildings that contribute to the history of our city. Queen Annes, Colonial Revivals, Tudor, and Arts and Crafts are just some of the architectural designs featured in this stately district. The neighborhood harkens back to the early days when Great Falls was bursting with promise and rapidly expanding at the turn of the century.

Returning to live in Great Falls after World War I, veterans and others found agreeable apartment houses also on the north side, many of which are still in use today. By 1980, downtown living had somewhat lost its zeal and many houses and buildings were boarded up. Today the area enjoys a renaissance of sorts, with residents taking pride in restoring many of the grand old homes that tell part of our collective story.

Join local historian and newest member of the board of directors for The History Museum Carol Bradley for May’s Second Saturday program. We will meet in Gibson Park at Vinegar Jones Cabin and promptly begin the tour at 2 p.m.

Consider a visit to our exhibits and gift shop on June 14, when we will be open 12:00pm - 5:00pm.

On Saturday, April 9 at 1pm, The History Museum will hold its annual Legacy Awards event to honor businesses, organizations and individuals that have helped shape, promote and preserve the rich history of Cascade County and North Central Montana. This year Legacy will be an afternoon event with a light brunch, a no-host mimosa and bloody mary bar by Enbär, and a unique silent auction & art sale. The Annual Membership Meeting will also be held during the free event.

Calumet Montana Refinery LLC is located in the heart of our city on the banks of the Missouri River. The Refinery employs close to 600 people and has called Great Falls home since 1922. Though they have operated for a century now as part of the petroleum and coal products industry, they continue to grow and engage in new technology. In 2021 Calumet launched their Montana Renewables project that seeks to create renewable fuel for Montana and continues to invest millions of dollars into our local economy. With its Centennial Anniversary coming up in November, the Refinery was chosen to receive our 100 Years in Business Award.

Showdown Montana has been serving the Great Falls community since 1937 and is among the oldest ski areas in Montana. George Willet and the late Ted Cogswell purchased the hill in the 1970s. Originally named Kings Hill Ski Area, offering a tow rope to the top of Porphyry Peak for $1, George and Margie Willett have since brought this local gem into the modern age without sacrificing character. Last year it was announced that operations of the ski hill were being passed on to daughter Katie Boedecker, who continues the legacy. Showdown is this year’s Commercial/Local Business Award.

The Monarch-Neihart Historical Group (MNHG) is this year’s Non-Profit Legacy Award winner. The historic train depot built in 1902 had fallen into disrepair and was slated for demolition by the MDOT.  It was saved by a group of dedicated volunteers who formed a non-profit organization in 2012 and continues under the leadership of Monarch residents Hugh and Janet Enloe. Today, the Depot is the only remaining railroad structure of the Great Northern Railroad that once extended from Great Falls to Monarch, Barker, and Neihart, Montana. The work done through this non-profit strengthens small communities by offering a communal space where history is preserved and a yearly festival: Montana Rocks.

Our 2022 Person of the Year award is going to Mary Sheehy Moe, educator, and active community member. Moe retired from a career in education in 2010. She began her career as a high school English teacher, continued as an English teacher at a two-year college in Montana, and concluded as Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education in Montana. Since retirement she has been a school board chair, a state senator, and a city commissioner representing the citizens of Great Falls, MT.

Thank you to our sponsors for Legacy Awards 2022:

Quilt & Textile Preservation with Ashleigh McCann, Collections Curator

Your family heirlooms have a story to tell, and with proper preservation they should last through generations. In this special member workshop, our collections curator will share how to preserve and care for quilts by improving the way we store our treasured textiles.

If you’ve ever read any of Jean de Brunhoff’s children’s story “Babar,” you won’t want to miss this live reading with piano accompaniment! Bring your child and your copy of the original story and watch David Saslav act out the story with specially-designed props while local Great Falls pianist Melissa Smith plays French composer Poulenc’s evocative score. (30 minute program. CDs available, benefitting the museum by donation.)

One Summer in 1933, French composer Poulenc was visiting his sister and six-year-old niece, shortly after she had received her copy of the original French children’s book, “L’Histoire du Babar.” The girl, bored by her uncle’s modernist composing at their family piano, took her Babar book, handed it to him and said, “Uncle Francis, play this instead!” 

Fortunately, Poulenc was every bit as gifted as an improviser at the piano as he was a composer, and he magnanimously complied by composing music for each page of her storybook. So enamored was his niece by her uncle’s scenic sound painting, that she insisted every Summer thereafter that he repeat the performance, note for note (which, thankfully, he was also able to do). Eventually, she insisted he publish it for other children to enjoy, and Babar was born again, this time as a work of classical music, recorded several times by many different pianists and narrators.

You can purchase a copy of The Story of Babar at your local bookstore (link to purchase from Cassiopeia Books can be found here: https://bit.ly/3oCcmRF) or check it out from your local library.